title: Validation of a clinically useful measure of children's state anxiety before medical procedures.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Assessment of children's anxiety in busy clinic settings is an important step in developing tailored interventions. This article describes the construct validation of the Children's Anxiety Meter-State (CAM-S), a brief measure of state anxiety.
  
  
  METHODS
  Existing data were used to investigate the associations between child self-reports of anxiety, parent reports of child anxiety, and observed child distress during an intravenous procedure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children's (n = 421) CAM-S scores were significantly associated with all parent measures and observed distress ratings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings support the use of the CAM-S for assessment of child anxiety in clinical settings.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
authors.forename: Anne L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Ersig
authors.forename: Charmaine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kleiber
authors.forename: Ann Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hanrahan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D057566:Self Report; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control*
keywords: Anxiety; children; measurement; validation